Elderly Care: Providing Services for Senior Citizens - Essay Sample

Introduction

Elderly care entails taking care and fulfilling the special needs of senior citizens. It involves providing services such as home care, hospice care, nursing homes, long term care, adult day care and assisted living to older persons of 65 years or older. In the US, the demand for elderly care services is on the rise, and many families opt to seek the services of Elderly care service providers to provide care for the aged people in their families. Statistics from the United States Department of Health and Human Services estimates that the population of people above 65 years shall be about 72.1 million by 2030 (Mozley, 2017). It is thus expected that the number of elderly care service providers shall also have doubled to meet the increased demand for elderly care services. In Bakersfield city, California, there are six elderly care centers that operate at full capacity and one that operates at almost 80 percent capacity, an indication of a rise in the demand for elderly care in Bakersfield city.

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Choosing the service provider to offer elderly care to a senior citizen is not a spontaneous activity, for it involves evaluating the elderly care service provider competence against individual expectations. It is expected that senior citizen caregivers strive to ensure the aging process is easy for the aged people as well as their people by providing the seniors quality care (Pino, Boulay, Jouen, and Rigaud, 2015). For individual caregivers in the elderly care center, it is expected that they are committed to serving seniors based on the seniors' interests and personality (Kagitcibasi and Ataca, 2015). They also need to create a very comfortable relationship with the seniors and the seniors' families. The dignity of the seniors is also very paramount, and caregivers should be passionate about ensuring they assist the seniors live a meaningful and fulfilling life. The senior citizens are prone to poor health; hence caregivers should also be well versed in handling emergency procedures and conducting mental tests.

Note Your Gemba Observations

On conducting a Gemba observation of what really happens on the ground, I observed that the organization had created a conducive elderly care center where the environment and quality of care given are optimal. The quality of housing is good as well as the furniture and fittings in the care center are perfect. Elders are taken care of by caregivers who are well trained and experienced in handling the senior population. In fact, I noted that all the caregivers employed in the center are certified and licensed by the national caregivers' agency. After a discussion with some of the individual caregivers, I noted that they were also very conversant with handling of emergency procedures. The facility has employed a fully trained nurse to assist in the event of any emergency. The caregivers are also passionate about delivering quality care to the senior citizens, and the dignity of the aged is respected. I also noted a very cordial working relationship between caregivers and senior citizens. Generally, the senior citizens in the center look happy with how they are served in the center.

What Was the Goal of The Gemba?

The goal of the Gemba walk in the elderly care center was to establish the status of the care center and caregivers in delivering quality care to the senior citizens. The rationale of conducting the Gemba was to determine whether the fact that the care center is operating at full capacity is due to a shortage in elderly care centers compared to the demand or is due to the delivery of high-quality services in the center.

What Did You Observe During Your Gemba?

On the care center or the organization, I observed that it had developed a high-quality infrastructure that enabled the provision of high-quality care. The houses were well built with high-quality furniture and fittings. There was ample space for outdoor relaxing and walking for the senior citizens. Trained caregivers were also employed to ensure quality care for the aged population. On the caregivers, I noted that they were all trained and certified by the national caregiver's agency and that they were aware of handling emergency situations. They were also very passionate about their work and respected the dignity of senior citizens. It was also evident that the senior citizens looked satisfied with the services they were offered at the care center.

Provide A Preliminary Analysis of Your Observations

From the Gemba observations, it is evident that the elderly care center provides quality care and that the senior citizens are satisfied with the services offered by the center. The infrastructure at the center is perfect, and the employees are passionate about delivering quality care.

Did You Observe Any Opportunities?

The center is known for providing quality care, and it has ample space that can be utilized for expansion. The center has the opportunity to use its ample space for outdoor activities to create more houses that can accommodate more senior citizens now that the population of senior citizens is on the rise in Bakersfield city. Since the center is a profit-making organization, investing in the expansion of the facility capacity can be instrumental in increasing the profitability of the organization.

What Were the Key Takeaways?

From the Gemba walk, there were five key takeaways.

• The organization had created a conducive elderly care center where the environment and quality of care given are optimal.
• Elders are taken care of by caregivers who are well trained and experienced in handling the seniors.
• The caregivers are very passionate about delivering quality care to the senior citizens, and the dignity of the aged is respected.
• There was a very cordial working relationship between the caregivers and the senior citizens.
• The senior citizens looked happy and satisfied with the services they were offered at the care center.

Who were the individuals you spoke with?

During the Gemba walk, I had an opportunity to speak to Linda Reeds, who was the supervisor at the Elderly care center. Linda Reeds had worked in the center for the past eight years and had raised in rank from a caregiver to become the supervisor at the center. I also spoke to the caregivers in the center, as well as some senior citizens.

Who Are They, And What Are Their Responsibilities?

Linda Reeds was the Elderly care center supervisor and was responsible for coordinating all the operations in the center. She was the one who coordinates the duties of all caregivers in the center, and the caregivers directly report to her. There are twelve caregivers in the center who are all trained and certified to offer care to senior citizens. Their main responsibility is providing personalized care to the aged population in the center. There were sixty senior citizens in the center, and their responsibility is getting care at the center.

What Did You Learn from The People Who Work in The Environment You Observed?

All people in the elderly care center looked happy and friendly. They freely communicated and exchanged ideas, an indication that there existed a cordial working environment. Between the caregivers and their supervisor, there was open communication, and it was difficult to differentiate between the supervisor and the caregivers since they all worked as a team. The way the employees worked together indicate a shared vision and mission towards delivering high-quality care to the senior citizens in the center. I also noted equality among all employees despite their position at work. Between the caregivers and the senior citizens, I noted great concern in the individual interests to ensure they provide high-quality care.

List Two Short-Term and One Long-Term Executable Project Ideas

From the Gemba walk, I propose two short term executable project ideas that shall assist in enhancing the good organizational culture and strengthen the cordial working relations between employees and between employees and senior citizens.

Team building events: the organization can develop by annual team building events to improve on teamwork. A workforce that works as a team delivers high-quality outcomes.

In house training on emergency handling: since senior citizens are prone to many health complications, there is a need to have periodical in house training on how to handle different emergency cases when they occur in the center.

I also propose the building of more houses to increase the care center capacity as a long-term executable project idea. By increasing the care center capacity, the organization shall be able to house more senior citizens and an increase in its profits.

How Is Your Employer Responding to Your Project?

My employer has positively responded to my project and has noted that the project was an eye-opener on how to improve the existing relationships between employees and between employees and senior citizens. The project shall, therefore, enhance the quality of relationships in the center, and in the long run, the profitability of the organization shall be improved.

References

Kagitcibasi, C., & Ataca, B. (2015). Value of children, family change, and implications for the care of the elderly. Cross-Cultural Research, 49(4), 374-392.

Mozley, C. (2017). Towards Quality Care: outcomes for older people in care homes. Routledge.

Pino, M., Boulay, M., Jouen, F., & Rigaud, A. S. (2015). "Are we ready for robots that care for us?" Attitudes and opinions of older adults toward socially assistive robots. Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 7, 141.